GRADS Grant Report

Thanks so much for the Boost for Teacher grant. Our Special Olympics basketball team travelled to Hayti for the NE Region tournament. We had planned to travel to the state basketball tournament in Mitchell on March 23rd, however, due to weather conditions, we were not able to attend the state tournament. Since we did not get to participate in the state tournament this year, we held our own special celebration day. We invited some Special Olympics helpers to come to the SHS Practice Facility and play 2 games against our team. After the games, we feasted on Pizza Hut pizzas, and had a dance with Jason Deutsch as DJ. The $100 helped pay for the pizza meal for our athletes and chaperones. This event wasn’t quite like traveling to the state tournament, but it was a fun event to finish out our basketball season.
Thanks so much for your support!

Dr. Michelle Greseth
Absenteeism Intervention Teacher on Special Assignment

GRADS Grant Report
TRANSITION CLASS – Sisseton School District

The grant of $100 was granted to the Transition Class of Sisseton School District. The class used the money to finance their community exposure activity. On February 2024, the class went to Watertown, SD to watch a circus. Participants were composed of 3 adults, including the teacher-in-charge, and 3 students. The following are the details of the activity expenses.

Circus Tickets ($15/person) = $90.00 ($15 x 6)

Snacks (food & drinks) =$60.00 ($10×6)

Gas (transportation) = $50.00

Total=$200

The $100 grant helped with the class expenses. It was a big assistance to the class.
Watching the circus was a fun and meaningful experience for the students which was made possible by the help of some sponsors, especially the GRADS.
Thank you very much, GRADS!

GRADS Grant Report
7th Grade SPED CLASS – Sisseton School District

The grant of $100 was granted to the class of 7th grade SPED of Sisseton School District. The grant financed the class’s Iron Transfer T-shirt Printing project. There were 13 students in the class who benefitted from the project. They have learned how to do the ironing and transferring of pattern/design to the shirt, which is a good lesson of following written and verbal instruction. The students brought home the shirt that they have designed.
The following are the details of the activity expenses.

Plain Shirts ($5/person)= $65.00 ($5 X 13) = $65.00
Iron Transfer Stickers (assorted designs) = $50.00

Total=$115.00

The $100 grant helped with the class expenses. It was a big assistance to the class.
The students learned from the activity and as a bonus they got a free shirt with the design they like. This was made possible by the help of the GRADS. Thank you very much, GRADS!

GRADS Grant Report-Wilmot School District, Special Education

I want to thank the Grant Roberts Disability Supports group for the Boost for Teacher grant that I received. The money I received was used to purchase work skills curriculum. The student that will benefit from this curriculum will be a freshman next year and will begin working on transition skills and activities to help them achieve their post-secondary employment goals.
The curriculum that I found has different modules focusing on job readiness skills like learning about themselves, applying for a job, using a timecard, and job quality. It also has different modules for common jobs like clerical, retail, food service, and grocery in which students are taught tasks, vocabulary, and jobs related to those fields. Having a job is one of the most important factors to empowering students. When individuals have a job, they gain confidence and independence which can lead to further success in other areas of their independent living goals.
As a freshman, I would like to start to introduce the job skills curriculum to give an overview of different jobs and introduce vocabulary used in those jobs. It is my hope to use this curriculum for the next two years in order to prepare this student for a Project Skills work experience by the age of sixteen.
I look forward to teaching with this new curriculum and I greatly appreciate the continued support your group gives to individuals with disabilities.

Michele Benike
Special Education Director
6-12 Special Education Teacher
Wilmot School District

GRADS Grant Report-Lifequest

We hosted an information fair event at The Bank on Monday February 26th. The following
speakers were present, except Brad Konechne, who suffered a back injury and was only able to attend
via Zoom, which was not ideal.

SPEAKERS AT THIS EVENT:
Theresa Marzahn-Resources for Human Development Case Management
Brad Konechne-SD Benefits Specialist Network
Katrina Koeppe-Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor
Tiffany Duvall-Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor
Mike Webb-Rehabilitation Counselor for Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Cate Diede-Transition Liaison with BHSSC
Lana Smith-Independent Living Specialist
Tami Leddy-Sederquist-Family 360
Laura Maag-LifeQuest Direct Support Specialist

We had about a half a dozen people come to the event, and we used the funds given by GRADS to
purchase refreshments for presenters and guests.
While it was not as well attended as I had hoped, the people who did attend found if very helpful
and a lot of good contacts were made, and information was exchanged. I hope it will be
something we can do again and hopefully word-of-mouth will increase attendance.

ADA Celebration 2024